Five Charlotte City employees told an investigator that Charlotte City Council member Warren Turner made sexually inappropriate comments to them, including a female staffer whose complaint sparked the probe, according to a report released Monday night.

Turner, who attended the dinner meeting when the report was read, told investigators he didn't do anything wrong. He said Monday night he would have a detailed response in the future.

Turner, a Democrat who has represented west Charlotte since 2003, is also a state probation officer.

Turner once tried to become a police officer, but he was "involuntarily terminated" from the Charlotte Police Academy in 1988, according to the report. A female cadet said Turner "repeatedly" made sexually inappropriate comments to her, and then later physically threatened her, the report said.

The highly unusual investigation of a council member could lead to the council censuring Turner, as some members discussed. But the city's policy against sexual harassment doesn't apply to elected officials, meaning Turner can't be removed from office or suspended.

The female employee whose complaint touched off the probe -- who is not the former cadet -- told investigator Valecia McDowell that on Dec. 14 of last year that she met with Turner in council member James Mitchell's office.

She said that Turner had been looking for her, and when she asked if he needed anything, she said Turner said: "I just wanted to make sure you were doing your job."

The female staff member, known in the report as Employee A, told the investigator that as she was leaving the office, Turner pulled at her sweater at waist level.

Afterward, she said, Mitchell called her and said what Turner had done was "inappropriate."

Mitchell, who told investigators he is "very close" with Turner, told McDowell he didn't say that and doesn't remember Turner touching the employee's clothing.

Soon after, the female employee told City Manager Curt Walton and another city employee about the incident. The employee then met with the city's human resources director, Tim Mayes, though she said she didn't want to make a formal complaint.

According to the report, Mayes told the employee: "I can't sit on this even if (Employee A) doesn't want to go forward."

Mayes then discussed the situation with Mayor Anthony Foxx, who was unsure how to handle the allegation, according to the report.

In March, Walton asked Foxx to address the allegation because there was an upcoming National League of Cities meeting that Turner and the employee would both be attending.

On March 14, Foxx sent an e-mail to all 11 council members warning them not to sexually harass city staff. The e-mail prompted the council to investigate.

McDowell, an attorney with the law firm Moore & Van Allen, interviewed 18 people. She said the probe will likely cost the city $35,000.

She wrote that "there is sufficient evidence" to support a finding that Council Member Turner made unwanted sexual and gender-related comments to and about Employee A.

After McDowell read her report, Republican Edwin Peacock criticized how Foxx, a Democrat, handled the situation by sending the e-mail.

Peacock said Foxx and city staff should have handled the issue with a private meeting.

Foxx was visibly upset when he defended how he handled the allegation.

"I think you are reaching, frankly," Foxx said:

"This is Monday morning quarterbacking. There is one mayor of the city, exactly one person who had this thrust on his lap. I dealt with it. I have a five-year-old daughter. I want her to grow up in a world where she can go to work. That's what was behind it."

The staff member who said Turner grabbed at her clothing also said Turner made other unwelcome comments.

In February 2008, the staff member said Turner stopped in her office. He asked the staff member about a mug on her desk that had a photo of the actor Shemar Moore.

Turner asked whose photo was on the mug, and the employee said, "That's my motivation!"

Turner then said, according to the employee, "You don't need that, I should be your motivation. You need a real man to be your motivation!"

The employee then said Turner asked where she went undergraduate and graduate school, and Turner then said: "See, that's your problem right there: they don't have any real men at those schools! Your real motivation is right here."

Turner told investigators that he didn't say those things.

The female employee told her supervisor about the comments, and also discussed the incident with McCarley and human resources director Tim Mayes, according to the report.

The employee said that in September 2008, Turner met her fiance, and then later said to her: "I need to know who would marry you! He needs to come and talk to me so I can give him advice on how to deal with you!"

McDowell also interviewed other city staff members, and asked if they had witnessed any council member speak inappropriately.

The only council member who was identified as behaving inappropriately was Turner.

One female employee, described in the report as Employee B, said that on a 2006 trip to Reno, Turner made a sexually explicit comment to her as they passed a hotel store

displaying pornographic magazines. The employee told investigators that she worked to avoid being alone with Turner.

Turner told the investigators he never made any such comments.

Another female employee, described as Employee C, said Turner made sexually inappropriate comments to her more than once.

She said she didn't want to disclose the comments because she felt they might identify her.

A female employee described as D, said she had heard about Turner's inappropriate comments from other female staff members, and that Turner had once approached her and said: "If I wasn't married," The employee then said she cut him off.

The investigators interviewed an employee of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, who was in the Charlotte Police Academy with Turner in 1988.

The former police cadet told investigators that Turner made "repeated sexually inappropriate comments" while they were in the academy.

Turner told investigators that he resigned from the academy before graduating because he had a ticket for an expired automobile tag and because he had physically threatened a cadet. He said he hadn't made sexually inappropriate comments.

The investigators, however, reviewed Turner's employment records and found he was "involuntarily terminated" from the Charlotte Police Department.

The report said that it "appears Council Member Turner was less than fully truthful when responding to questions."

The report said it found that Employee A's comments appear "to be credible and consistent, especially when viewed in light of the substantial number of unrelated but factually similar incidents recounted by other witnesses."

The investigation wasn't tasked with verifying the accounts of other staff members; they were included as supporting witnesses to Employee A's claims.

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